BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 945|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 945
Author: Liu (D), et al
Amended: 8/24/10
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 4-0, 4/13/10
AYES: Liu, Romero, Runner, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Maldonado
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/20/10
AYES: Leno, Cogdill, Cedillo, Hancock, Huff, Steinberg,
Wright
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 9-0, 5/3/10
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Corbett, Leno, Price, Walters, Wolk,
Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alquist, Denham
SENATE FLOOR : 30-0, 5/10/10
AYES: Aanestad, Alquist, Ashburn, Calderon, Cedillo,
Cogdill, Correa, Cox, DeSaulnier, Ducheny, Florez,
Hancock, Hollingsworth, Huff, Kehoe, Leno, Lowenthal,
Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Romero, Runner,
Simitian, Steinberg, Walters, Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Corbett, Denham, Dutton, Harman, Liu,
Oropeza, Strickland, Wiggins, Vacancy, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not available
SUBJECT : Juvenile court jurisdiction: services and
benefits
CONTINUED
SB 945
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SOURCE : Childrens Advocacy Institute
DIGEST : This bill requires probation and parole officers
to provide wards of the court formerly in foster care with
notification regarding their eligibility for services and
benefits available for former foster youth when the court
terminates jurisdiction, or upon release of a ward from a
non-foster care facility. This bill also contains language
to avoid chaptering-out issues with AB 12 (Beall) and SB
1353 (Wright).
Assembly Amendments (1) delete references to dual status
foster children, make clarifying changes in the findings,
and declarations, and (2) correct redundant sections of the
Welfare and Institutions Code, and make technical clean-up
changes related to chaptering amendments from SB 118 (Liu)
Chapter 338, Statutes of 2009.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Provides that a minor may be adjudged a dependent child
or a ward of the juvenile court under specified
circumstances.
2. Authorizes the court to place a minor who has been
removed from the custody of his or her parent or
guardian in foster care, among other placements.
3. Provides for the termination of the juvenile court
jurisdiction when the minor reaches a specified age.
4. Authorizes the Department of Social Services (DSS) to
develop statewide standards for the implementation and
administration of the Independent Living Program.
5. Establishes that a case plan, which is required to be
adopted by the county for each child receiving child
welfare services, is the foundation and central unifying
tool in child welfare services.
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6. Requires that a case plan include information about a
parent's incarceration in a jail or prison during the
time that a minor child of that parent is involved in
dependency care.
Existing Regulations
1. Specifies eligibility requirements for the Independent
Living Program, and require county social workers and
probation officers to determine eligibility for the
program in conjunction with the preparation of a
Transitional Independent Living Plan.
2. Requires county social workers and probation officers to
ensure that foster or probation youth are given
appropriate information about the opportunity to
participate in the Independent Living Program.4.
This bill clarifies that probation and parole officers are
required to provide wards exiting from a juvenile justice
detention facility with documentation of their status as
former foster youth, and to inform them about their
eligibility for services and benefits available to former
foster youth to assist them with their transition to
adulthood. This bill does not change existing eligibility
for independent living program services or other services
provided to former foster youth.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, minimal
reimbursable local costs, likely less than $50,000, for the
workload associated with probation officers providing wards
the required information and assistance.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/26/10)
Children's Advocacy Institute (source)
Aspiranet
California PTA
Family Law Section, State Bar of California
Los Angeles County District Attorney
Public Counsel Law Center
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office believes that
the bill will result in youth learning about and using
supportive services that may mitigate or reduce their
current risk of limited academic achievement and of
continued encounters with the criminal justice system. The
author's office states:
Each year in California more than 4,000 foster
children turn 18 and exit the system. These youth
face significant challenges in their transition to
adulthood and are not faring well as other young
adults. . . .
Our state has created a number of new policies to
assist foster youth. As a result, foster youth who
age out of the system at 18 can access a variety of
assistance and counseling programs. These programs
help with housing, college planning and financing, and
job and financial counseling.
Unfortunately, a segment of the foster youth
population, called "dual status youth," are unable to
access services because they cannot prove their status
as a former foster youth. Dual status youth are
foster youth who have been under the jurisdiction of
both the dependency courts to the juvenile delinquency
court system. When these children emancipate from the
juvenile delinquency court status, rather than from
dependency court status, they are effectively denied
access to private and non-profit programs designed to
assist former foster youth.
While there is no specific provision of California law
that terminates a dual status youth's eligibility for
transitional living services there is no process to
ensure that these children receive proof of their
history in the foster care system. Foster youth who
are moved to the delinquency court system frequently
do not return to their dependency status after
satisfying their court-ordered detention or treatment
due to the lack of placement availabilities.
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These youth fall between the cracks because foster
care programs identify transitional youth based on
their residency. Young people who are wards of the
court (housed in juvenile court or treatment
facilities) do not reside in homes reserved
specifically for foster youth and therefore not able
to prove their status as a foster youth. Although
probation officers who oversee wards for the court are
expected to advise and assist their wards with access
to transitional living services, there is no clear
process for the probation officers to follow to assist
this population.
SB 945 would ensure that upon the release of a ward
from a nonfoster care facility, a probation officer or
parole officer will provide the person with:
A written notice stating that the youth is a former
foster child and may be eligible for the services and
benefits that are available to a former foster child
through public and private programs.
Information that informs the youth of the availability
of federal and state programs that provide independent
living services and benefits to former foster
children.
CTW:do 8/26/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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